After more than five years, it is finally reality: theosteopathy is now officially a health profession. The Council of Ministers has in fact approved the Decree of the President of the Republic for the institution of the health profession of the osteopath.
The DPR acknowledges the agreement between the Government, Regions and Autonomous Provinces regarding the definition of the professional profile of the osteopath sanctioned on November 5, 2020 and provided for by law no. 3 of 2018, when he sat at the Ministry of Health Beatrice Lorenzin.
“Three years after the Law 3/2018 with which the figure of the health profession of osteopath was identified, today the Council of Ministers has concluded the process of institution. A valuable result for those professionals, now fully qualified health, and for the people they care for. For me it is a source of great satisfaction and yet another confirmation of the goodness of the initiative undertaken ”commented Lorenzin. “Now let’s proceed quickly with the definition of the didactic organization, the evaluation of previous qualifications and the establishment of the register in the TSRM and PSTRP Orders”.
Osteopathy, what it is and how it works
Osteopathy is considered one alternative therapy which consists in the manipulation of certain parts of the body, in particular the back, neck and head. Even the WHO in its guidelines places it among traditional and complementary medicines.
Osteopaths use a holistic approach towards the care and healing of patients, based on the idea that a human being represents a dynamic functional unit, in which all the parts are interconnected and which has its own self-regulation and self-healing mechanisms.
In fact, osteopathy has a approach to the person rather than to the symptom, does not deal with treating the pathology, but treats the effects, the contributing causes, the outcomes of the diseases and the comorbidities related to these. A manual medicine that aims at the balance of all the components of the organism and at the strengthening of the state of health. The starting point is the existence of relationships between the functional balance of body structures and health.
Born in the second half of the 19th century in the United States by the doctor Andrew Taylor Still, is based precisely on a holistic approach that considers the individual not as a mere mechanical sum of vital apparatuses. Still understood that the balance of health passes through the balance of the osteoarticular structure, in relation to the harmony of the nervous, myofascial and circulatory systems. Its principles, enunciated in 1874, led in 1892 to the foundation of the first school of Osteopathy in history, the American School of Osteopathy.
Osteopathy, the numbers in Italy: patients and professionals
Now, for Italy it is a moment that even the Minister of Health Roberto Speranza defines “important for the many professionals and for those citizens who need their services”.
The data in fact say that 1 out of 5 Italians (at least 10 million) has turned to an osteopath at least once in their life, more than 1 in 3 did so on medical advice. For problems of various kinds, but above all back pain, neck pain and postural problems. Even for the after-effects of the so-called Long Covid in the last year.
But until today, although regulated, the practice was not formalized among the health professions. I’m About 11 million osteopaths in our country.
The next steps now concern the other implementing decrees, relating to the definition of the university degree course in Osteopathy, given that now osteopaths are trained according to shared guidelines, but by private centers, and then to the equivalences, which will allow current osteopaths to to be able to continue exercising.
Osteopathy, how it works in the rest of Europe and the world
But how does it work elsewhere? While in Spain the exercise of osteopathy is not regulated, in France, A country with the highest number of osteopaths in the world and the one where the majority of osteopathic schools are concentrated, according to the public health code, osteopathy practitioners are not health professionals.
In Germany the training course in osteopathy represents the continuation of the course in Heilpraktiker HPS, a professional figure recognized in the naturopathic field and who is not allowed to implement or prescribe allopathic methods.
Osteopathy is a primary health profession in UK and is regulated by the General Osteopathic Council (GosC), which keeps the register of who is qualified to practice osteopathy in Great Britain.
In the United States Osteopaths (Doctor of Osteopathy) are trained in osteopathic medical colleges and are doctors in all respects: they have the same rights and duties as Doctor of Medicine, so they can also prescribe drugs, perform surgery and enroll in all medical specializations .
In Australia, osteopaths must have a university education of at least 5 years, which includes anatomy, physiology, pathology, medical diagnosis and osteopathic techniques among the main subjects. They are also trained for standard medical examinations of the musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, respiratory and nervous systems.
Osteopathy, what changes in Italy for future osteopaths
But what actually changes?
First of all for the new aspiring osteopaths it changes that a degree course will be needed, and therefore a university degree, to be able to practice the profession. All the steps, the number and type of examinations, any equivalences and also how it will work for those who are already osteopaths today still have to be defined.
Osteopathy, what changes in Italy for patients
For patients, everything changes from the point of view of expenses related to osteopathic services. Until now, in fact, the expenses related to the services rendered by osteopaths could not be deducted precisely because the figure of the osteopath was not included in the list of recognized health professions, available on the institutional website of the Ministry of Health.
As soon as there are further implementing decrees, now it will be You can also download these expenses from your tax return.
However, we specify that, even today, if the osteopathy services are provided by members of one of the recognized professions, such as surgeon or physiotherapist, the related expenses are deductible.
The circular of the Revenue Agency n. 19/2020 specifies that the deductible specialist expenses include those of osteopathy provided that the services are performed in centers authorized for this and under the technical responsibility of a specialist.
To take advantage of the deduction, a medical prescription is not required, but you must be in possession of a certification of the consideration issued by the health professional, which must show the professional figure who rendered the service and the description of the service rendered.
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